Shaky Hands
by TheWeatherOutside
Summary: Rescues didn't always go as planned. (Day 1 of Whumptober 2019 - Shaky Hands)


Rescues didn't always go as planned.

Sometimes things that seemed easy turned out to be a lot harder than they initially thought they'd be. Sometimes these things were manageable, just a sudden change in the weather that meant a slight change in their equipment. Or maybe there were a few more people to rescue than they were initially told, or one of them failed to mention they were injured. Things that didn't make the situation dire, but they really could have done without.

Then there the times when these things were much more serious. When one or more of them barely made it out with their lives, or don't make it out at all. The times that stuck with all involved for much longer than they would like.

This was one of those times.

Thankfully, it wasn't the worst situation that they had ever been in, not by a long shot, but that still didn't stop Gordon from shaking from where he sat in the back of Thunderbird 2's module, barely keeping it together.

It was supposed to have been a fairly straightforward rescue. An abandoned building was in the middle of collapsing, and Gordon had been sent in to retrieve two teenagers who were stuck inside whilst Virgil tried to keep the building intact from the outside.

Readings had said that the building was stable, and should have stayed stable enough for Gordon to get in and out with plenty of time to spare. But then something must have shifted, and the structural integrity of the building suddenly began to fail.

The two teens had been stuck on the top floor of the three story building, too scared to move until they knew it was safe. Gordon had just reached them, and was about to turn back around and head out when he felt the floor begin to shake. He didn't even have any time to warn the others, or find a some way to stop them from falling before the floor fell out from under them.

Gordon just had time to see the fearful looks on the teenagers' faces, before they were ripped away and all he saw was darkness.

* * *

Gordon came to on a pile of rubble with a lot of dust drifting around him, and through his dazed mind he somehow managed to remember what had happened and where he was. He closed his eyes and mentally checked over his body. It ached. It ached a lot, but other than his wrist, nothing else hurt enough for him to suspect he was injured more than just a few bumps and bruises.

Deeming that it was safe for him to move, he sat up, whilst mentally thanking Brains for ensuring that all of their equipment, including their uniforms and helmets, were built to last through almost anything.

He was reminded of what could have happened to him without it as he sat up, and the first thing he saw in his blurry vision was blood coating the rubble, and a lot of it at that.

_No no no no…_

He crawled over on shaky hands, hoping that he wouldn't find what he thought he would, what he _knew_ he would, but didn't want to admit. Didn't want to believe that just over the edge of a piece of debris he would find another two lives that he failed to save.

As Gordon crawled closer to the blood, he could make out an arm peeking out from under a long, thin piece of debris. He ignored the pain in his wrist as he lifted the debris to reveal one of the teens underneath.

Gordon felt his heart drop as he took in the sight of the young man. If it wasn't for the piece of shrapnel sticking out of his abdomen, Gordon wouldn't have even been able to see where his wound was. He was covered in blood.

Gordon shakily reached for the man's neck, checking for a pulse that he wasn't even sure was there. He let a breath out as he felt the barely there beats beneath his fingers.

Something caught his eye, and he looked up to find the other teenager sprawled out not too far away. Gordon hurried over to him as quickly as he could, and found that he was not that much better off than his friend. Gordon checked his pulse as well, and thankfully found it was still there, albeit sluggishly.

Gordon sat between the two, casting his gaze quickly between them. He didn't even know where to begin, who to start with. His mind felt cloudy and there was a pain behind his eyes. He took off his helmet and tried to suck in a breath, but was just met with the still settling dust as it drifted into his lungs. He tried to cough and squeezed his eyes shut as he willed the pounding in his head to go away.

None of this was supposed to happen. No one was supposed to get hurt, but now he sat between two lives that were slowly slipping away.

* * *

Everything that happened from that point on went by in a daze. He remembered Virgil appearing as he helped to get the other two into TB2. He remembered them trying to stop them both from bleeding out as they flew towards the closest hospital. He remembered them landing, and Virgil instructing him to stay onboard as he took the other two into the hospital and into the awaiting hands of the doctors.

And now he sat in the module as he waited for Virgil to come back and give him the news.

He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there, staring at the blood on gloves that sat on hands that still shook, before he heard the sounds of Virgil coming back. A few moments later, and Virgil was peeking his head into the module. He didn't say anything as he made his way over and sat down next to Gordon.

A beat went by, and then Virgil broke the silence.

"They're both going to be just fine."

Gordon didn't say anything, didn't know if he could with how much he was still shaking, but he let out a deep breath that he had been holding since Virgil entered the module.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Gordon shook his head and just concentrated on his breathing for the moment. As he calmed down a bit, he felt the pain in his wrist spike up again. It had numbed down as his concentration was focused on the other two, but now that he didn't have to worry about them he was reminded of his own injury.

"That's fine. We don't have to talk right now," Virgil replied softly. He seemed to notice Gordon slowly move his wrist to cradle it close. "Right now we can head back to the island, and we can get your wrist looked at. Don't pretend like I haven't noticed." He added at the shocked look that Gordon gave him.

Virgil stood up then, and held his hand out to Gordon to help him up. Gordon couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his face as he reached out and took the offered hand. A steady arm wrapped around his shoulders as he stood up and steered him towards the cockpit. He sat down in the co-pilot seat, and as Virgil sat down in his own, Gordon shut his eyes and let the light rumble of the plane taking off lull him to sleep, content with the knowledge that even when things didn't go to plan, when situations left him shaky and scared and overwhelmed, his brothers were always there to help him pick up the pieces.


End file.
